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Sunday, January 31, 2021
New Graphic Novel Based On Rock Album by ANTHRAX
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Attention: Comics Creators - - Enroll Now For February Workshops
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Wonder Woman 1984 - Official Main Trailer
PGHHEAD'S 2021 COMICS ODYSSEY, Part Four
One of my goals for 2020 that I achieved was to increase the type of content on Pop Culture Podium - - not just comics, but books, film, music - and in 2021 I hope to add craft beer reviews.
The other goal was to post more comics reviews on the site, also achieved. I contributed over 900 comics reviews in 2020, plus several from guest contributors. For those new to this blog, pghhead is a.k.a. Mike Clarke, editor, writer, and curator of Pop Culture Podium.
In 2021 I’d like to cross over the 1,000 comics review barrier. That’s what this odyssey is about, beginning January 01, 2021. Wish me luck . . . . .
#67-72 THE MAN OF STEEL #1-6 (DC, July-September, 2018) I only read Superman titles sporadically. Introduced to him during my elementary school years, I never warmed up to the character. Too powerful and too perfect for me, even though I respect what he represents. I identified more with the characters with problems, like Batman and Spider-Man. I’ll pick up a Superman book here and there, and have found an excellent read several times, but overall I’m not missing anything.
When Brian Michael Bendis transitioned to writing for DC I decided to pick up his debut, the weekly MAN OF STEEL, and give it another chance.
I liked it but didn’t feel enough warmth to want to start picking up the monthly title. After revisiting this for a second reading at one time, I’ve got a more favorable opinion of this.
There is much warmth here, especially in the relationship between Clark, Lois, and son Jon. The scenes where Clark sits on the floor of his son’s room after a key moment in the story is especially touching.
The changes Bendis introduced have to do with the fate of planet Krypton and the return of Superman’s father to his life. New villain Rogol Zaar is a powerful barbaric alien who despises all things Krypton and wants to eradicate all traces from the universe. The art throughout is very good. Because of the weekly publication, there was a rotating cast of artists but the transitions were fairly seamless with one exception that really stands out.
I don’t want to spoil this for anyone who hasn’t read it. It’s worth a look if you can find the back issues or a trade paperback. THREE AND ONE-HALF STARS.
#73 BATMAN CATWOMAN #1 (DC/Black Label, February 2021) I needed to return for a second reading of this one in order to confirm everything that is going on here. Writer Tom King often challenges readers with abrupt scene changes, cryptic writing, and deliberately vague passages. “Did that just happen that I think just happened?” is a frequent refrain, at least in my readings of King.
With MIRACLE MAN and STRANGE ADVENTURES, I picked up the first issues and then opted to wait for the trade paperbacks so I could read them all at once. I almost decided against even bothering with BATMAN CATWOMAN but the second reading changed my mind. I’ll watch for favorable reviews and then decide whether to order the trade paperback.
There are three separate stories going on here, in three different timelines. In the past, Bruce’s former lover Andrea Beaumont (who later became a killer vigilante) enlists Batman and Catwoman to help find her missing son, whose father is hinted by King to be a funny villain.
In the present (I think) Batman has to disengage from Catwoman to track down a familiar escapee from Arkham. Later a gloved figure disturbs a grave in the cemetery and gets a surprise. In the future an elderly Selina Kyle visits a Florida trailer park for a reunion with an elderly gentleman. Except he’s not the familiar relative/acquaintance who he appears to be, and under the hairpiece is a formerly funny villain.
Where this is going I have no idea. Clay Mann’s art is appealing, especially the creepy scene on the credits pages. THREE AND ONE-HALF STARS.
#74 FUTURE STATE: SWAMP THING #1 of 2 (DC, March 2021) I actually disliked this book first time around, but it got a little better with a second reading. However, I’m indifferent enough to what’s happening here to avoid picking up the second and concluding issue.
In this world, everything in New York City is overgrown and the only lifeforms appear to be variations of plant creatures. They all heed the words of the Green Father, Swamp Thing. For some reason, he wants to find any remaining traces of humans and discovers a lone survivor who speaks of a cold, green-free world up north where the Undying Man is determined to begin a battle between all things green and the everlasting dark. Ho hum. Lots of chatter and portentous captions , pretentious and trying to be metaphysical. Some truly annoying secondary characters. Boring. This is only going to last another issue. I don’t care.TWO STARS.
#75 VENOM #6 (Marvel, June 2017) Issue #6 was the lead in to the return to legacy numbering with the next landmark Issue #150. This is like a game of musical chairs. “Symbiote, symbiote, who’s got the symbiote?”
The current host, former Army Ranger Lee Price is a bit of a psychopath and nobody wants him to wear the symbiote, including the symbiote. Even Peter Parker/Spider-Man tries to coax the symbiote back to his body, just to keep away from the crazy man.
Everybody is chasing Lee Price, including Eddie Brock who’s now the leader of the FBI’s Anti-Symbiotic Task Force. Even Flash Thompson is trying to re-unite with the symbiote, after the Venom In Space arc. Venom gets captured, the symbiote released from Price and confined to a glass chamber, awaiting transport off-planet. Guess who breaks him out and re-unites? Broccoli. THREE STARS.
The premise seemed promising. Tony Stark is in a new cloned body, resigned from Stark Unlimited, and supposedly committed to doing good in a stripped down version of the Iron Man armor without all the hi-tech doodads.
Many of the old minor villains are back - - The Unicorn, The Melter, The Controller, Cardiac. Even the old Avengers foe, Korvac, is back but in a form, style, and methods that resembles him in name only. The encounters with them seem too brief, and odd. The Melter shows up so he can melt Tony’s sports car - - wha?
Tony/Iron Man is paired up with Patsy Walker/Hellcat, who’s trying to bring out his mellow side with yoga, meditation, etc to minor results. The chemistry between the two just seems off, with Tony doing quite a bit of complaining about what his former rich, privileged self has now lost. The Cantwell magic is over for me. TWO STARS.
#78-81 ULTIMATE ARMOR WARS #1-4 (Marvel, November 2009-April 2010) Now, this limited series is more like it! After reading those disappointing IRON MAN Cantwell issues, I wanted to grab some more Iron books from my long boxes to help cleanse the metallic palate.
Great story by Warren Ellis. Engaging pencils and inks by Steve Kurth and Jeff Huet. Beautiful coloring from Guru eFx. A fast-paced story with an unexpected twist (and gut-punch betrayal) in the final chapter. You can usually count on Ellis to sneak in a surprise or two.
This occurs after the events of Ultimatum. The Ghost steals a top secret box from a Stark security bunker, as Tony discovers that international criminals are illegally buying and selling his tech. An unlikely ally, Justine Hammer, helps him track the Iron Man tech data to Prague.
Doctor Faustus. Castle Frankenstein. Bram Velsing (play on words).
The trail leads to London for a final confrontation.
The variations on the Iron Man armor by sundry parties are interesting and sometimes over-the-top in color and accessories. Even the British government gets in the act, with some armored riot police utilizing stolen Stark tech. This was a good one. FOUR STARS.
#82 NUCLEAR FAMILY #1 (Aftershock Comics, pre-order by Feb 01, release date February 24) Cold War era science-fiction at its' most timely and terrifying.
Adaptation of a Phillip K. Dick short story by Stephanie Phillips and Tony Shasteen.
MY RATING - - 8 out of a possible 10. A full review of Issue #1 was posted to this blog on January 29.
CROWDED begins with a great premise: Have a serious grudge against someone? Like to see them dead? Start a crowd-funding campaign on REAPR to raise money for their elimination, either by professionals or amateurs.
The money is up for grabs for whoever gets to the victim first. Anyone who dislikes the target can contribute, as well as others who jump on the bandwagon. Naturally, the target can use the DFEND app to hire a bodyguard and hope they can avoid death for 30 days. Then REAPR gets to keep the money and doesn't have to pay out or pay back.
The characters are interesting, and most of what we learn about them comes through their interactions. I empathized with bodyguard Vita Slatter to a certain degree, but not so much the erratic Charlie (Charlotte) Ellison, the target. We get just enough background on both characters to engage us and keep turning the pages. What ensues is chase after chase, funny battles, and an ending that opens the door for more. FOUR STARS.
#89-#93 YEAR ZERO #1-5 (AWA/Upshot, May-September 2020)
I’d call this a noble experiment. Percy wanted to stray from the conventional zombie story that focuses on a single setting and/or group of individuals. Percy paints a portrait of a zombie apocalypse on a huger canvas, across a global scale.
The story jump-cuts from location to location and follows one character in each setting as they try to stay alive - - - from a polar research station that may be the origin of the virus to Mexico City to Kabul to Burnsville, Minnesota to Tokyo.
MY RATING: THREE AND ONE-HALF STARS. A longer review can be found on this blog for January 31, 2021.
Comics Review: YEAR ZERO, VOLUME ONE Trade Paperback
YEAR ZERO, VOLUME ONE (AWA/Upshot, October 2020) Trade paperback, 144 pages. Writer: Benjamin Percy. Artist: Ramon Rosanas. Colorist: Lee Loughridge. Letterer: Sal Cipriano. Cover Artist: Kaare Andrews.
I’d call this a noble experiment. Percy wanted to stray from the conventional zombie story that focuses on a single setting and/or group of individuals. Percy paints a portrait of a zombie apocalypse on a huger canvas, across a global scale. The story jump-cuts from location to location and follows one character in each setting as they try to stay alive - - - from a polar research station that may be the origin of the virus to Mexico City to Kabul to Burnsville, Minnesota to Tokyo.
My favorite individuals are young Daniel Martinez in Mexico who partners with the same cartel that murdered his parents (with revenge on his mind) and B.J. Hool in Minnesota, an overweight pop culture geek who saw the writing on the wall and secured himself within a safe bunker (but he may regret giving in to his lonely impulses). Zombies, of course, play an important role in each of the individual scenarios with one exception. In the tale of Saga Watanabe, the Yakuza assassin/hitman they serve as window dressing and are not essential to his story.
The same device that makes this saga stand apart from all other zombie fare is what makes it seem a slow read, and less frightening. Each issue focused on all five individuals, detailing just three or four pages of their story at a time. The constant start/stop of these vignettes served to pull readers out of the story instead of engaging their interest.
However, there is conflict and resolution in each of these stories, although perhaps not as final as some would prefer. But I’m used to zombie tales that end with temporary survival and leave things open, as YEAR ZERO does. Volume Two is grinding out right now.
With a five-issue mini-series to work with and five characters, Percy could just have easily told this as five one-shots, focusing on the full story of just one character per issue. I think YEAR ZERO would have more impact that way.
Still, these characters are interesting and the global setting is a welcome change. I don’t regret reading this, and I plan to follow the next series. I’d recommend picking this up in trade paperback as the best way to read the series, perhaps at one sitting. I read them in the individual issues, with a month between readings, which may have affected my impressions. My Rating: THREE AND ONE-HALF STARS out of a possible FIVE STARS.
P.S. My favorite cover is Issue #5, even though it has absolutely nothing to do with any of the five individual stories.
Saturday, January 30, 2021
Book Review of BROKEN by Don Winslow
BROKEN by Don Winslow (William Morrow, April 2020) Hardcover, 338 pages. ISBN # 0062988905/9780062988904
Summary on the Goodreads website . . . . .
In six intense short novels connected by the themes of crime, corruption, vengeance, justice, loss, betrayal, guilt and redemption, Broken is #1 international bestseller Don Winslow at his nerve-shattering, heart-stopping, heartbreaking best.
In Broken, he creates a world of high-level thieves and low-life crooks, obsessed cops struggling with life on and off the job, private detectives, dope dealers, bounty hunters and fugitives, the lost souls driving without headlights through the dark night on the American criminal highway.
With his trademark blend of insight, humanity, humor, action and the highest level of literary craftsmanship, Winslow delivers a collection of tales that will become classics of crime fiction.
My Five-Star Review On The Goodreads Website
This collection of short novels is a brilliant showcase for the skills of author Don Winslow to tell a variety of great stories all within the same genre: crime fiction. Known for his engaging novels of the crime and drug cartels, Winslow stretches out beyond those confines. From the gritty and brutal to heart-warming to funny - - it’s all here.
GRITTY, BRUTAL VICIOUS: The lead story in this collection, “Broken”, is all that and more. It’s the harshest tale as a vicious drug gang gets revenge on a special forces squad leader by taking down his brother cop in deadly fashion. “Avenge your brother, I want you to kill them all.”
The ensuing retaliation is rough reading.
CLEVER POLICE PROCEDURAL: “Crime 101” is a fascinating pursuit of a crafty and cautious jewelry store robber who gets outsmarted by Detective Lou Lubesnick, who needs a comeback of sort considering all that’s happened to him. Lubesnick is a re-occuring character and also appears (although in less major roles) in two other stories in this collection.
FUNNY ROMANTIC COMEDY: In “The San Diego Zoo” a young police officer gets embarrassed by a runaway chimp with a gun. However, despite his unfavorable Facebook notoriety, Chris Shea gains the attention of a romantic interest, and redeems his reputation by solving a mystery.
COMPELLING CHASE AND CATCH: Great character portraits throughout “Sunset” raise this above the level of a simple procedural as a surfing private investigator is hired by an iconic bail bondsman to track down the legendary surfer who jumped bail.
VIOLENT, BUT MORE POLITE THAN “BROKEN”: In “Paradise”, the trio of California cannabis entrepreneurs from Winslow’s SAVAGES novel explore expanding their territory into Hawaii and run into much resistance from the local crime syndicate. Family is paramount. Paradise is where you make it.
WARM-HEARTED AND HEART-BREAKING, TWO FOR ONE: In “The Last Ride” an Iraq war veteran and now Border Patrol agent becomes frustrated with the federal government’s mishandling of children in cages. Unable to utilize the service’s resources and expertise to re-unite a young girl with her separated mother, he decides to fix things on his own. In the process, he risks his career, his relationships, and his life in a trip across the Texas-Mexican border. This one brought out feelings of familial warmth, frustration, depression, and sadness.